During the Publishing Panel, speakers Mike Lotstein, Sarah Shoemaker and Kathy Wisser discussed the publishing process at the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. This event was livetweeted under #archpub16.
The purpose of the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies is to provide an open access journal which expands the opportunities for people in the archival field to publish. Their scope is broad rather than narrow, they are interested in submissions about all aspects of archives. In order to fully expand opportunities, the journal has no deadlines or submission dates, instead allowing you to submit your articles at your own pace. This open access approach also allows the authors to own their own content, and republish it elsewhere if desired or if their research expands (though credit must be given to JCAS for original publication).
Once an article is submitted, it is reviewed by three anonymous reviewers, chosen for their interest in the topic. The reviews are double blind (reviewers dont know the authors identity and vice versa), and are designed to provide constructive feedback. Afterwards, the author makes major or minor edits to the article for publication. The whole process usually takes 7-8 weeks.
Kathy, who has published articles with JCAS in the past, described the process as constructive and positive. And Mike emphasized that the goal is to see you succeed. Some suggestions the panel had for aspiring authors who hoped to turn their academic papers into articles included looking at the secondary source literature, reach out to authors with similar research (this is a friendly profession after all), and to assign yourself manageable goals as to ensure stages of the writing process does not become overwhelming. The panel encouraged that you reach out to professors, and submit a paper for peer review, after all, as Mike said, You have nothing to lose by submitting your best work. But never fear, Sarah reminded us that nobody submits a perfect [first] copy, edits are a completely normal and constructive part of the publishing process.
Interested in becoming a peer reviewer? Submitting an article for publication? Both? Have a different question? Visit http://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/. Please note that there are no deadlines for materials, as they encourage flexibility and for writers to submit at their own pace. If you would like to hear more news from the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, follow them on twitter, https://twitter.com/JCASonline.